Andy Anson, CEO of England’s failed 2018 World Cup bid, "is part of a rescue mission to help sort the British Olympic Association’s chronic commercial problems," according to Charles Sale of the London DAILY MAIL. The BOA is forecast to make a £4M ($6.2M) loss in '12, with Team GB’s "hugely successful performance at the Olympics bizarrely not resulting in any new sponsors coming on board." The sponsorship debacle "led to the expected resignation" of CEO Andy Hunt. BOA Chair Sebastian Coe "will take a more hands-on role in the short term, with a six-strong staff management team reporting to him." He "will also bide his time before a decision is made over the skills required in Hunt’s successor." Coe’s priority "is to attract those elusive sponsors" and BOA independent Dir Anson, CEO of successful sports retailer Kitbag, "will spend time with the BOA commercial department to assist with that search." Anson was a former commercial director of ManU (DAILY MAIL, 2/13).

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered security forces to be on high alert "to protect against attacks by militants ahead of next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi," according to Thomas Grove of REUTERS. Russia "is battling an Islamist insurgency in the Caucasus region," stemming from two separatist wars in its Chechnya province. Grove reported "a suicide bomber killed three policemen on Thursday" in the Caucasus province of Dagestan. When addressing senior officials from the Federal Security Service domestic intelligence agency, Putin said, "All anti-terrorist forces should be at the highest level of alertness and readiness." He added, "The most important thing here is the protection of people's lives." Putin continued, "It is necessary to provide reliable anti-terrorist protection of ... large-scale public, international events soon to take place in our country." Grove reported that next year's Olympics in Sochi have been declared a target by the Caucasus Emirate group, "which claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport" in Jan. '11 that killed 37 people (REUTERS, 2/14).

The Rio de Janeiro Olympic and Paralympic Local Organizing Committee has contracted the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro to "conduct a study on the impact of the Games," according to MAQUINA DO ESPORTE. The study, "which is mandatory by the IOC," has the objective of measuring the environmental, socio-cultural and economic impact of the Games. The contract requires the institution to "produce four reports." The first will be in September, with an analysis of the '07-12 period. Another report will be released next year, while the last two will be done after the Games in '17 and '19. This kind of study "has already been done" by the IOC for past Olympics. It allows the organization to explain the impact of hosting the Olympics (MAQUINA DO ESPORTE, 2/14).